365 Project Week of Feb 19-28

Just an update on my "almost a photo a day" project!

February 28 - Today Sarah got her braces off!!! Woo Hoo! That girl could not stop looking at herself in the mirror! I think she forgot how she looked without them. With or without she is a shining beauty inside and out! Love you sweetie even though you are totally giving me the fake "just take the stupid picture" smile! :)

February 27 - Well with the fantastic warm weather of this weekend, I decided it was time to pull out the seeds and get my seedlings started. They will stay in these pots inside my bathtub where they can stay moist and warm until the last frost. I am trying to pare down my items (believe it or not). I have tons of work to do to prepare the soil before these babies can even go into the ground....but I keep motivated by thinking of all the fresh yummy salads I will be eating this summer - right out of my garden!

February 25 - My precious baby's birthday. We always sing happy birthday to our kids and bring them breakfast in bed with a candle to blow out. This year Ben was surrounded by his peers as they had spent the night the night before, so we sang to him at the table and it played it cool. I can't believe next year I will have two teenagers! Make them stop growing up so darn fast!!!

February 24 - Remember back in January when I took a picture of that amaryllis plant my Uncle Steve sent us for Christmas ...we here is the pretty thing all in bloom. She is gorgeous and so happy!

February 23 - Time to paint...just a close up of a girl I made jumping in a meadow!

February 21 - Just another in day in my sexy life of laundry washing. I don't really even mind doing laundry because I love the clean smell and the closets to be organized. What I can't stand is the fact that there seems to be a big black hole for my socks because I have more than 20 without matches! Here is a pix of the solo socks...sniff, sniff...they need a partner! PLEASE!

February 19 - We saw some snow and freezing cold weather. It has been such a mild winter that this is only the second time it has snowed. I know this means bad news for me with my allergies. I am just hoping I can survive it! Just two days after this photo it was in the 70s...crazy!

Exciting Artsy Stuff

I am soooooooooooo excited!!!

Last fall/winter I read about an event I really wanted to attend called "The Soulful Artist". Unfortunately the dates were for this weekend and it is Ben's birthday. There is no way I could just jet out for the weekend when my baby was turning 12. Who knows how much longer he will even want me around??? So I figured, it just wasn't meant to be. Then a few weeks ago, I was reading Christy Tomlinson's blog and she announced there were two cancellations for their March 1-4 weekend. Holy cow! Really?!! I was so excited, I went straight to the site and signed up!

The weekend is hosted by Donna Downey and her guest is Christy Tomlinson. Now, for those of you who are not familiar with these amazing women, let me tell you about them! I was first introduced (not literally or physically) to Donna through Simple Scrapbooks magazine and I just loved her style and personality and well, her creative mind. I have purchase two of her books and I think she has incredible talent and style I gravitate to in paper crafting. She has since started her own art studio and does all kinds of incredible work including painting, sewing, etc. She rocks!

I am not sure how I "happened" to come across Christy Tomlinson's blog one day last year, but she seriously changed my life (and I don't even know her). I loved her spirit and personality in her blog and the fact that she was so "real" and not perfect (like me)!! I signed up to take her She Art Workshop and fell in love with painting again!!! I had put all that away thinking I wasn't good enough, but she really showed another whole world - mixed media art - and made me think differently about art and creating and turning mistakes into something golden! I started becoming addicting to painting and creating new things and I actually liked most of what I was creating! THANK YOU!!!

So...to bring me to my point about next weekend.... I will be attending this intimate workshop with these two women leading a group of us into exploring art! HOW FUN IS THAT?????!!!

I am so excited! I am trying to decide what to pack, what will I want to bring, will I want to read at night? will I want to blog? will I want to paint more? I just can not wait! I will have to post pictures of completed works, etc. Thank you to my sweet and supportive husband who knows how badly I need this weekend!! He understands I need this kind of "food" for my soul! I love you honey!

Right now here are a few pictures of things I have recently made. This will be the BEFORE photos (as in before my amazing workshop):

After posting these pictures, I am seeing a serious "heart" theme going on. (even on my angel girl ... who still needs some words) Maybe I will have some better AFTER photos to show you next week after I immerse myself in artsy goodness?!!

Jewelry Update

I have been trying to create some fun new pieces of jewelry for my etsy store. I temporarily closed the store so I could "create" and then unload a whole bunch of fun stuff!! Well, I got busy creating and made some really funky pieces (lots of necklaces) and decided to post them to my Facebook wall to generate some interest before I placed them in the store and re-opened the shop. I ended up selling all but three pieces!

I know, what a great problem to have, right?! So now I need to get busy making some things so I actually have an inventory on etsy and at the local Mom & Me Boutique which is carrying some of my pieces. Here are some pictures of the pieces I made. Both bracelets shown are still available.

Thanks for your support! I really do appreciate it!!

Happy Birthday My Sweet Boy!

Twelve years ago this sweet kid gave me more than I could ever hope for...joy.

As many of you know, I was in the heart of a dark period in my life. I had lost hope, felt attacked and well, joy was sparse in my life. Haleigh had just been placed in a pediatric nursing facility some 160 miles from our home. My heart was broken. I felt like a failure as a mother. I was exhausted. I felt angry at what had happened to her. I felt hopeless because I couldn't cure her and I couldn't come up with the $30K a month for her care after our grant expired. I was definitely in a pit.

On February 25, 2000, my life changed for the better. This little guy healed so many of my wounds. He gave me new hope, and most of all a renewed sense of joy. He gave my sweet Sarah a sibling she would grow to love on and play with. He gave us all the "normal" cries of anger instead of incurable pain; smiles when he was happy and he slowly helped my broken heart begin healing.

my adorable knight, age 4.

on his third birthday as Buzz Lightyear....I would love to know what he was wishing for.

At age 2 in Florida in his favorite thing to hang out in ~ his birthday suit! :)

I love this kid! Happy Birthday Boo Boo!

I Sold My First Piece of Art

Initially I was excited to find out that one of the two pieces of mixed media art I placed in a local store sold! WOW! That is so cool that someone liked it enough to pay for it. Most of the pieces I have ever made (well all of them) I just give away as gifts.

But then I was suddenly sad that it was gone. Is that weird? Maybe because I really don't have a good grasp of scanning my art (because of the dimension) that I don't have all that great image of it to use again on a notecard or whatever in the future. Any tips on that would be greatly appreciated!!

So here are some photos of the piece I sold. It was a 12x12 canvas.

I just love this saying and felt it should look whimsical. It turns out the principal at Ben's middle school bought it for her niece. So I think it is pretty cool someone will have this hanging on their wall. yay!

Update on My 365 Day Photo Project

Okay, already it is the second month of the year and I am falling behind! I am mocked for taking photos all the time, yet some how can not keep up with a simple photo a day. I think part of my problem is blogging it. Not every day needs a story or explanation. Some (actually most) of my days are fairly uneventful and just "normal". So I am going to attempt to bring you 'up to date' on my photos, minus the days I didn't take any. In the past I have not had the best of luck posting several photos, but we will see.

So here are the photos from the past two weeks!

Feb 18 - Teri's sweet mother threw a luncheon for her friends as a thank you for helping Teri during her adoption and hosting her shower. Georgianna made the most tasty and wonderful dishes and paired each course with a champagne or wine. It was such a treat and a wonderful way to visit and relax with good friends!

Feb. 16 - It was time to show our homeowners the research we had done on traffic calming. Stephanie (pictured here) led the meeting at city hall. While we were excited about the fact that we had city councilmen and the chief of police in attendance to help us field questions, only 9 homeowners showed up. I was very proud of Stephanie for the way she handled the meeting especially since she was sick! This whole HOA has really helped us form a friendship and I am glad we have had the chance to get to know one another. She is a real spit fire and we both laugh a lot when we hang out. Laughter is always good medicine! We talk a lot on the phone due to HOA stuff. (Although my kids think she is the "only person who ever calls" me!) I am blessed to have become her friend.

February 14 - Happy Heart Day! Just some treats waiting for my kids upon their arrival home from school. Love them! :)

Feb. 13 - Sarah was trying to pick classes for her sophomore year. In February?!!? But, anyway she was contemplating taking Greek & Roman Mythology as an elective. She is already taking a pretty heavy load of honors classes including: Honors Algebra II, Honors English II, Honors Chemistry and Honors French. So we were thinking, she should take a "fun" elective. I guess neither Vince and I think mythology is fun. We were also afraid she would be taking an elective that was hard. So in the course of our conversations with her, Ben (who LOVES mythology) decided he would test her knowledge by creating a crossword puzzle with mythological gods and goddesses as the answers. He really poured his heart into it! So stinking cute.

And just so you are not left wondering, she decided not to take mythology after all...she decided to do Civil War History.

February 10 - Teri's birthday. Her favorite is German Chocolate cake...so I set myself to baking and I must say (although it didn't look perfect) it was tasty!!

February 9 - Okay, so maybe Spring Hill, TN is not a booming metropolis or maybe we just live in the sticks, but this was a first for me, so I had to take a photo of it. It was the first "charging" station I had seen. It was set up in front of our Kohl's as a courtesy to electric car drivers. Personally, I think there are more pregnant moms than electric cars in our town but who I am to decide who gets the parking spots closest to the store??

February 7 - This photo so does NOT do just to the majestic moon rising. It was breathtaking and fabulous, but this was the best I could capture on my camera. I just am a moon lover! So peaceful and quiet and unpretentious. Love it!

I am in love...

with these yummy cracker chips I bought at Whole Foods the other night. I am normally not a chip person, but man when I want to snack on something, these things are great! They are semi-good for you too ~ gluten free, brown rice, wild rice, sesame seeds, no artificial colors, etc. I am addicted and seriously in love with them. Wonder if they sell them in bulk?

Feb 6 Day 37

Monday dinner? Well, not typically. Our family usually joins my brother's family every Sunday for "Family Dinner", something we decided to do when we moved here four years ago. So we alternate houses and the kids look forward to hanging out with their cousins. It is our little way to catch up as we don't always cross paths in our daily lives.

Lately my brother James has been in Tupelo, busy opening a very successful Buffalo Wild Wings, so we have not been able to have him for Sunday dinner. We miss him! Since he happened to be home Monday, they had us for Monday night dinner and it was good to hang out and visit. Here we are being silly while Sarah snapped pictures of us. I can't believe I am publishing this photo because I absolutely hate the way I look - pudgy, tired and old. But I love the way I was feeling ~ happy and full of laughter! Love you James!

Feb 4 Day 35

It may be awhile before I get to pick a movie. I dragged the family out to see The Iron Lady, a movie about Margaret Thatcher played by Meryle Streep. Well I love her as an actress and I find historical dramas fascinating, so why wouldn't the kids? I can honestly say we were the youngest four people inside the theatre.

I was hoping the story would be so gripping and interesting that I would teach my kids ~ history is entertaining. However, I felt the movie fell short. Way short. It was kind of disjointed and hard to follow if you are a 12 year old who wasn't even alive for the Falkand Islands, or the Iron Miners strikes, or the terrorist bombings in the 1980s. Sigh. I tried.

Probably the most unbearable part was as we were walking in and I asked a man to shoot our picture in front of the movie poster. My kids were dying ~ and I, of course, was laughing! Hey, it is my job and my right to embarrass my kids! Love you guys!

Feb 2 Ground Hog Day

Got a sick son home from school today. Tummy trouble. He spent much time on the couch reading his stack of Calvin & Hobbes books. Love this kid!

And guess what...the ground hog did predict 6 more weeks of winter. So we are hoping for some snow and time off from school around here! (keeping those fingers crossed)!

Day 32 February 1

Just a rainy day. Ben and I were driving in the car...(of course I stopped the car when I took this photo). But we were having a conversation about the rain and how we wished it were snow instead. He missed having snow days this year. (They have only had one so far and it was for a light dusting in December). We talked about tomorrow being Ground Hog Day and what the groundhog would tell us. Ben predicts 6 more weeks of winter; in which he says winter will actually start!!

The rain poured down pretty steady and our creek in our back yard was swelling, but no snow. Kind of a bummer!

Day 31 January 31

Good morning! Yes, I am actually awake at sunrise. Such a beautiful sight. Enjoyed this scene as I sipped on my morning coffee and could see my breath against the cold air. Love the peaceful quiet of the mornings, just wished my body liked waking up early.

Day 30

That time of the week when I have to load up the burb and drive to the recycle center. It is a dreaded chore only because it stinks. I mean literally. My car smells like stale beer, rotten milk and soured wine when I drive there and I feel so icky after emptying the endless bins. Blech!! I do have good therapy sessions smashing the glass bottles into the bins....if you have never tried it, I highly recommend it! It does wonders for anger and stress release AND you are helping the environment! ;)

Day 29 It's a Dog's Life around here...

This picture says it all. This dog will find the rays of sunshine streaming in through the windows and sun nap there all day. Such a tough life she has. :)

Day 28

An evening of game playing with Ben. Usually I beat him handily in Sequence States & Capitols but tonight he whooped me. Just wasn't in the cards! Here is a picture he took of me trying to teach him card shuffling.

I always thought this was sooooo cool when I was a kid. I remember my cousin Linda would do it so effortlessly when we would play Fantan. She also had these amazing long painted fingernails. I thought my world would change if I too had long fingernails and knew how to shuffle, so I practiced and practiced until I learned how to do it too. Funny, the memories you have of your thoughts as a child. :)